VIS2128 ZHANG Portfolio

About

Using various techniques in R and ArcGIS, I display geospatial analysis of certain trends within U.S. cities, including Boston, Cambridge, and Philadelphia.

Map #1: Observing White Population Trends in Middlesex County, MA

Despite being home to diverse suburban communities, such as Cambridge and Everett, Middlesex County still exhibits trends of largely white (non-Hispanic) populations living on the outter perimeter of cities, which are largely non-White. This is especially noticeable in areas like Framingham and Lowell, MA.

Map #2: Evaluating Walkability of Schools in Philadelphia

Despite having an extremely dense downtown area, this visualization shows the majority of walkable schools in northern Philadelphia. This seems to suggest that although there’s a lot of commercial activity in the downtown, most of the families with school aged children who live in Philadelphia tend to reside on around northern and western Philadelphia.

Transit time to the nearest Philadelphia school

Continuing the analysis of Philadelphia’s school access, I analyzed the how long it would take students to get to school via public transportation. While it may appear that majority of schools are accessible well within a half hour time, accessibility is dependent on the individual student, their grade, and which school that student is enrolled in.

Map #3: Revisiting the History of Chelsea’s Commercial Block

Chelsea is a city north of Boston. The location that is exhibited in this map boarders Broadway, the major commercial corridor in Chelsea. Using a sanborn map, it can be seen that much of the physical structures that existed there in 1911 has remained largely untouched, including building structures and roadways.

Analyzing the Relationship Between Bike Stations and Historical Landmarks

Cambridge is one of the most bike-friendly cities in Massachusetts. Cambridge is also a very historic city, and this map is meant to analyze if there’s a relationship between bike stations and historic landmarks. If there is a strong relationship, this could suggest that historically popular or important areas have continued being important places of interaction. However, this analysis shows that there is a rather weak correlation between historic landmarks and bike stations.